The boiling point is 2072 °C (3762 °F), higher than that of thallium, but lower than gallium, conversely to the general trend of melting points, but similarly to the trends down the other post-transition metal groups because of the weakness of the metallic bonding with few electrons delocalized. (wikipedia.org)

Indium is rather basic in aqueous solution, showing only slight amphoteric characteristics, and unlike its lighter homologs aluminium and gallium, it is insoluble in aqueous alkaline solutions. (wikipedia.org)

Gallium arsenide is also used in mobile telephones and certain microwave appliances , enabling higher-frequency operation and lower energy usage than can be achieved with silicon-based devices. (umicore.com)

In 1875 Lecoq de Boisbaudran, whose curiosity had been aroused by the presence of unknown lines in the spectrum of a zinc mineral originating from the Pyrenees, succeeded in isolating the metal, which he named gallium after his native France (Gallia). (umicore.com)

It has two main allotropes: at room temperature, the stable allotrope is β-tin, a silvery-white, malleable metal, but at low temperatures it transforms into the less dense grey α-tin, which has the diamond cubic structure. (wikipedia.org)

Of the four, gallium is the only one that is neither highly reactive (rubidium and caesium) nor highly toxic (mercury) and can therefore be used in metal-in-glass high-temperature thermometers. (wikipedia.org)

Unlike mercury, liquid gallium metal wets glass and skin, along with most other materials (with the exceptions of quartz, graphite, and Teflon), making it mechanically more difficult to handle even though it is substantially less toxic and requires far fewer precautions. (wikipedia.org)

Gallium easily alloys with many metals, and is used in small quantities in the plutonium-gallium alloy in the plutonium cores of nuclear bombs to stabilize the plutonium crystal structure. (wikipedia.org)